Wishes
by x-Oscena-x
Summary: A lonely 17-year-old named Amanda Jackson is on her way home when she stumbles upon a mysterious object. She takes it home only to find that is is no ordinary item, and that it may hold the very thing she needs most. 'T' for violence and some language.
1. Chapter 1: The Lamp

Pt. 1 - The Lamp

Plano, Texas- Year 2017

The sun was setting as she made her way home. The streetlamps began to flicker on as the darkness slowly set in and her heart began to pound more quickly. It got dark fast there in the city. Soon, the only light came from the white-blue light streetlamps spread along the side of the road, and the only noises were the slapping of her sneakers on the pavement and the distant sirens and barking dogs that were the nightly melody that she had grown up with yet had never grown accustomed to. Suddenly, the trail of light ended and she froze. A busted transformer had left an entire block of lights out, and so ahead of her stretched what seemed like an endless darkness. She shivered in the humid air, a fear rising up in her. She wasn't scared of the dark, but of the things that her imagination told her hid in it. Taking a shaking breath, she stepped out from her refuge under the streetlamp and hurried along in a strait line toward the distant dot of light. With each step, she imagined some unseen predator watching her. In her mind's eye, she saw the horrible, twisted faces of the tormented, wide bulging eyes staring, hands grabbing at her ankles- she screamed as she toppled to the hard ground, scraping her elbows and kicking at her unknown captor- a metallic clinking was heard as something skid across the pavement.

"Huh?!"

It was just a- what WAS it, she wondered. Crawling across the ground, she felt out with her hands in every direction until she found the object and held it up to her face. She couldn't see it. She considered just throwing it back on the ground, but decided that she wanted to know what it was. Curiosity stronger than fear now, she made her way to the light...

...

She was now home and in her room. The object, she had discovered, had been a beat-up, foul-smelling lava-lamp. She figured that it must have been around thirty years old- from the seventies. Her mother had told her to throw it away, but she could not bring herself to. It was actually kind of cool to have found it, and she thought that it would have been a shame to throw it away after it had lasted this long. Though her mom had already gone to bed and her father hadn't yet returned from work, she remained awake, staring at it on her dresser.

"What's you're story?" she asked it in wonder. After a few moments, she sighed. "I really need to get you cleaned up if I'm going to keep you," she said, rising heavily from her bed and picking it up. She took it to the bathroom and flipped on the light. Taking soap and a washcloth from the pantry, she set the lamp in the sink and let warm water run over it for a moment, then, lathering soap onto the washcloth, began to scrub...

She dropped the the washcloth and lamp in shock into and fell back against the wall as a magenta smoke rose from the top of the lamp. She stood staring, mouth agape, as the smoke became thicker and thicker, then a figure rose from it.

"Wha- Who-??" She broke off.

"Haha! I'm out!" it shouted, its back to her. It was a man!

"Amanda...?" her mother called sleepily from her bedroom, "are you okay?"

The figure jumped at the noise, spinning toward the door. She noticed with shock that he had no legs, but instead hovered in midair.

In a state of shock, she replied shakily, "Y-yeah, mom." She trembled against the wall. Whatever this guy was, she wasn't about to put her mother in danger.

The man turned to her, his eyebrows raised, and smiled his pearly-white teeth at her. He was very good-looking. "Amanda, is it?" he asked.

She nodded mutely, glancing at the door and hoping her mother wouldn't wake up again, though she probably wouldn't. She was a pretty heavy sleeper.

"Well, Amanda, I am: Norm!" From nowhere, a giant neon sign reading "NORM" appeared in a puff of smoke, and the man raised his hands dramatically. "And you get three wishes!"

She blinked hard, then opened her eyes and stared at the strange scene.

For a few moments, he held his pose. She continued to stare, back still against the wall. He lowered his hands and frowned.

"Hello?" he said, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Anybody home?"

"Wishes...?" she asked dazedly.

"Hey, you catch on quick!" he said, pointing at her. She knew he was being sarcastic.

She looked at him for a second, then to the lamp. An expression of realization came over her. "Okay... I'm going to... just... go to bed now..." She made her way dizzily toward the door, only to be blocked by Norm.

"What?! That's it?? Don't you have any stupid, pointless wishes you'd like to make?" he asked, his hands in the air again.

"Hallucinations don't grant wishes, Mr. Norm-the-hallucination. Especially hallucinations caused by left-over hippie drugs," she said matter-of-factly, pointing to the lamp.

"I get it," he said, smiling again. "You don't believe me. Try me, kid. Make a wish!"

"I don't believe you? Wow, you catch on quick!" she threw back. Then she sighed, turning away. "No thanks, hallucination. I don't believe in wishes, anyway." Then, she opened the door and walked out.

Norm followed. "Don't believe in wishes?! What're you, nuts?!"

She climbed into bed. "Judging by the way I just saw a genie pop out of a lava-lamp, I'd say so. Goodnight. Don't be here in the morning."


	2. Chapter 2: Believe It

Pt 2 - Believe It

Amanda woke up without opening her eyes. She had been having a crazy dream... something about a genie...

"Good morniiiiiing, master!" came a familiar voice.

Her eyes flew open to find the dark-skinned, black-haired genie from her dream- no it wasn't a dream. It was the drugs from last night!

She groaned and rolled over, covering her head with her pillow. "Those drugs are still in my system..."

"Woah, there," he said. She felt herself being lifted and gasped as she found herself hanging in midair. "What's it going to take to convince you I'm the real deal, huh?" He pointed at her, frowning. "I don't think any of my other masters have ever been this difficult."

"Ugh!" she groaned, slapping her head. "I told you to be gone in the morning!"

The invisible force around her disappeared, and she dropped heavily back onto the bed with a shocked yelp.

"No can do, my stubborn master. I can't leave until you make all three of your wishes." He held up three fingers.

"No thanks." she was now standing up and rifling through a drawer. "I don't know what my subconscious is trying to tell me, but I won't be tricked into believing the impossible."

"Oh, come on!" He threw his arms up and then dropped them as she walked past him to the other side of the room.

He was smothered by a flying shirt. He pulled it off and tossed it to the floor. She was gone. He hurried out of the room after her.

"My parents won't see you, and then it'll prove that you're just a figment of my imagination."

Norm stopped, sighed, and snapped his fingers. His smoke-like genie half from the waist-down molded into a pair of legs in loose, white pants and became solid. Then, he followed Amanda into the kitchen.

"Morning mom. Morning, daddy," she said, taking a seat at the table.

"Who's your friend, Amanda?" her father asked inquiringly, looking to the doorway where stood Norm.

Amanda's pupils dilated, snapping back and forth from her father to Norm, who smirked in an "I-told-you-so" fashion.

"Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Norm," he said smoothly, extending his hand.

As her father shook Norm's hand, she slumped into her seat. This was for real. How could she talk herself out of having a man in their house this early in the morning?!

"He's- uh- a foreign-exchange assistant teacher," she said lamely, looking at her mother, who raised her eyebrows. "He called last night needing a place to stay, so I- er- volunteered to let him stay here for the night." Play it cool, Amanda, play it cool... she realized her face was warm with embarrassment. No way her parents would believe that lame story...

"Oh, well nice to meet you, Mister Norm. Won't you join us for breakfast?" her mother asked, indicating a free seat next to Amanda.

"Don't mind if I do," he said, following Amanda's father to the table and taking the seat.

Amanda watched as he helped himself to a plate of sausages.

"I don't b-believe this..." she stuttered, eyes wide.

"Believe it, kid," he said, smiling, looking at her out of the corner of his eye as her mother offered him a plate of eggs.


	3. Chapter 3: School

Pt. 3 - School

"Well, _Mr. Norm. _We should be getting to school," Amanda said.

"Riiight." he stood and followed her to the door, then turned around. "I have to say, Mrs. Jackson, that that was the best breakfast I've had in a long time." Then he winked and followed a scowling Amanda out the door.

"What's the deal with you?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"Hell-O, limitless magic at your disposal, _master_."

She stopped abruptly. "Will you- just- st-stop calling me that! I'm not your master!"

He was surprised. "Well, technically, you are. At least until-"

"Until I make three dumb wishes and then you disappear forever like you never really existed?" She began walking again in long strides, her fists clenched. He hurried after her.

"Well, yeah."

She stopped again, and he almost ran into her. "Look... couldn't you just, like... call me by my name? At least until... you _don't exist_ anymore?"

"I guess so, but why does it bother you so much?" He was _very _surprised. Not one of his masters had ever objected to being called 'master'.

"Well," she said, walking again, this time at a normal pace. "It's just that... for one, you're older than me. I won't guess how much older, but older."

He raised his brows.

"For another... you're probably a lot smarter than I am, and goodness knows you're stronger than I am."

He smiled at the compliments.

"And for another... well... you're kind of..." Her face flushed pink. "Well, kind of _cool._ It just doesn't feel right having you call me your master."

He laughed. Witty comment, however, escaped him.

"So do you want to come with me to school, or what?"

"What's my other option?" he asked, suspiciously.

She shrugged. "Well, I guess you could chill out and do your own thing until school's over."

"Oh." He thought for a minute. _'Chill out and do his own thing.'_ He grinned wickedly. "I think I'd like that."

...

"Hey, Amanda!" her best friend, Amber, whispered as she slipped in the door and took a seat.

Her small bout with Norm had made her late. Thankfully, though, the teacher didn't notice her come in.

"Has she called role yet?" she asked.

"Yeah. I told her you were in the bathroom."

"Thanks."

...

First period was over.

"So why were you late?" Amber asked.

"Oh, er, I was distracted on the walk home."

"Gosh, Amanda, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times- don't chase the butterflies on the way to school!"

They both burst into insane laughter. The people passing them gave them strange looks, but they didn't care. By this point, they were used to it.

"So, are we still on for your house after school?" Amber asked.

Amanda stopped abruptly, dropping her things. "M-m-m-my house?"

"Yeah. We were going to watch _'Dracula, Dead and Loving It_.'"

"Oh, right," she said, picking up her papers. "Uh, sure."

"What are you so distracted about?" Amber asked, nudging her. "Is it _him?_"

"HIM WHO??" she cried out, startling the passersby.

"Like you don't know!" They began walking again. "Kenneth, stupid!"

"Oh. Not really. Just thinking about that butterfly before school."

"What the heck?"

"Eh, nothing."


	4. Chapter 4: Part of the Scenery

Pt. 4- Part of the Scenery

The final bell rang and she hurried out of the building. She wondered where Norm was, but decided not to worry about it. She needed to get the popcorn started.

It was ten minutes before Amber was supposed to show up when Norm popped out of nowhere in a puff of smoke and scared Amanda into dropping her bowl of popcorn. He was in his genie-mode again.

"Oh, man!" she cried, falling to her knees to scoop the popcorn back into the bowl.

He laughed. "My bad," he said.

"No problem," she said, "I've got it."

"Kay, so uh, where is your wonderful cook of a mother?" He asked, peering around a corner.

"Mom and dad aren't home. Dad's going to be at work until, like, midnight, and mom's out with a friend karaokeing and'll probably be home around eleven or so. Hey, my friend's coming over to watch a movie. Do you want to-"

He sighed and raised his right hand. Here comes the stupid first wish...

"-hang out and watch it with us? I don't think she'd mind, but I need to know if I should pop another bag of popcorn."

...Or not.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and lowered his hand. "Watch a movie? Sure."

Amanda was back in the kitchen, going through the cabinets for the box of popcorn. "Do you like your popcorn buttered or salted? I think we have kettle-corn, too." She look over her shoulder questioningly.

"Buttered is fine." He said.

What a weird girl. Making popcorn instead of wishes. What kind of human would pass up a chance to have their greatest desires made reality? Did she not have any desires? Yeah, right. Everyone wanted something. Not that he much cared. The girl seemed to know the reality of things. He _was_ a genie and she _was _his master- temporarily, anyway- but she respected him as his own person, too. And today had been the greatest in the past nine years. She wasn't such a bad kid.

Amber finally arrived with the movie around six o'clock. Amanda let her in.

"Uh, I invited someone else over, too, okay?"

"Who? Is it one of our friends?" Amber asked. Like everything else, they shared friends.

"Er, no. You've never met him."

Amber kicked her shoes off by the door- they were muddy since it was drizzling outside. "HE, eh? One of your friends? Have you finally given up on Kenneth?" She winked obviously, nudging Amanda in the side.

"Wha- no, it's not-"

Amber hurried into the kitchen, kneeling behind the counter. Amanda followed, kneeling with her. "What are you DOING?" Amanda whispered.

"Is that HIM?" she asked wide-eyed, finding Norm (wearing sunglases) stretched out in a chair with his feet on the coffee table.

"Yeah," Amanda said nervously.

"He's... he's... oh my GAWD, he's HOT!"

Amanda turned red as a beet. She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off.

"How old is he?? Where's he from??" She asked in a wild whisper, ducking down completely behind the counter.

"I don't know!" Amanda replied. "Come on! Stop spying!"

"I knew you were into older guys, Amanda, but I never thought you were serious about it!!"

"Wha- you- I'm NOT!" she said loudly.

"Not what?" asked Norm, crouching down beside them.

Amanda yelped and fell backwards, thankfully covering Amber's squeal and squashing her at the same time. She went redder. "Nothing!" she said quickly, snatching the movie from Amber and standing up.

"Hiiii...." Amber said, smiling goofily. "I'm Aaaamber, Amanda's best frieeeend...."

"Hi, I'm Norm, and _you're_ still on the floor," he said.

She realized she was in fact laying on her back on the cold tiles. She got up and wiped herself off. "So, Norm, how do you know Amanda?" she asked, finding their only common link.

"Well, she rubbed my la-"

"MOVIE'S READY!!" Amanda cried loudly, interrupting him. She looked outrageously embarrassed.

Amber's eye twitched. She wasn't sure whether or not she was interested in hearing the rest.

...

The rest of the movie went mostly without incident. Amber clearly hadn't heard a word of it, much due to the fact that she was staring at Norm the whole time. Amanda thought it was pretty good, but the tension in the room made it kind of hard to concentrate on it. Norm thought that it had been kind of dumb, but some parts he'd found hilarious.

Amber left in a daze and even forgot to put on her shoes and had to drive back to get them. Now, it was just Norm and Amanda in the now-quiet house. Amanda was cleaning up while Norm kicked back and watched from the bar.

"So what's the deal with her?" Norm asked, his eyes tired.

"What do you mean?" replied Amanda confusedly, a tiny tinge of pink coming to her cheeks, without looking up from her work. "Um- she's always like that."

"Oh."

There was more of a silence, broken only when Amanda finally finished the dishes, set down her washcloth and looked over to find Norm sprawled out, asleep, on the couch. She just watched him breathe for a moment, wondering how it was possible that this guy- this genie- had only arrived last night and had already become part of the house. Such weird thoughts going through her mind, she wondered vaguely if he might be cold under the AC, and half-mindedly pulled a blanket from the storage closet and draped it over him. Then, still deep in thought and groggy with exhaustion, she plopped down in the Lazy-boy and fell immediately asleep.


	5. Chapter 5: The Second Day

Author's Note: I'd really like some reviews on this story. It's my favorite, and I haven't gotten any feedback... :(

EDIT: I've gotten so many reviews! Thanks so much, guys! :D Especially for the few who recommended me on TVTropes! :DD

Pt. 5- The Second Day

Norm woke up and stretched out comfortably, knocking the blanket on the floor. Opening his eyes, he reached down to pick it up, then realized with a start where he was. He sat up, stretching once more, and wondered how he had ended up falling asleep. In the chair, he spotted Amanda, curled up in a ball. He blinked, sighed, stood, and headed for the hallway with the intent of getting back into his lamp. Then, halfway across the floor, he stopped and turned around, an unidentifiable expression on his face.

"Oh, man," he whispered, rolling his eyes. He waved his hands, and from her chair, she levitated, not waking from her sleep.

Only once she was lying comfortably on her bed, still fast asleep and under her covers did Norm disappear into the lamp.

...

Amanda woke up disoriented. She didn't remember going to sleep. She yawned and sat up, stretching, and spotted Norm's glowing lamp on her dresser, wondering if he was awake, yet.

She dressed, then headed downstairs to find the house empty. Apparently, she had slept in, because her parents were gone. There was no sign of Norm, so she assumed he was still asleep.

She took the opportunity to call up Amber and set up a day at the mall, but Amber was out of town with her uncle and the most Amanda got was a few minutes long video-chat. Then, the house was quiet. She just sat for a few minutes, unmoving, on the couch. Then, she grabbed her wallet and headed out the door.

It was really hot and humid- a typical day in Plano- and by the time she reached the convenience store three blocks down, she was about ready to pass out.

In the back, next to the sodas, she mumbled, "I wonder if Norm would want anything..."

She stumbled backward in shock to find him suddenly before her, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Wha- what are you doing here?!" she cried.

He replied with agitation, placing his hands on his hips and scowling grouchily, "You called me."

"No I didn't!" Then, she realized that they were attracting attention from a group of girls, four of whom she recognized from her school. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I didn't call you! And- do something about-" she pointed down at his genie-half. Luckily, no one had seen it over the shelves, but a few of the girls were eyeing them suspiciously.

Without much interest, he snapped his fingers (bringing even more attention to himself) and his bottom half became legs once more.

"Obviously, you called me, or else I wouldn't be here," he said, annoyed.

"What's that mean?" Amanda asked, then, casting a furtive glance at the glaring girls, added, "and keep it low!"

This time, he whispered when he said, "When my master says my name, I have to show up to see what they want. So what do you want?"

"I don't want anything. I was just thinking out loud." Red-faced, she opened the fridge door and pulled out a Sprite Seven. She was embarrassed. Looking straight ahead to avoid looking at him, she said, "I'm um... sorry I woke you up. I was just wondering out loud whether or not you'd like a soda while I'm here..." She got quieter and quieter as she spoke, until she was mumbling.

Norm was quiet for a moment, then wrinkled his brows and sighed. "You just don't get it, do you?"

Now, Amanda looked at him. "What do you-"

In anger, he interrupted. "You don't get what's going _on_! _You_ don't do favors for _me!" _he took a few slow steps toward her, leaning in and getting louder as he went on."You call the shots. _I'm the genie_ and _you're the mast_-"

She stepped forward, rasing a finger threateningly. "Don't you dare say it, Norm!"

He stepped backwards, taken aback at the sudden change of situation. "What-?"

"Never again- never again." Her voice rose quickly, and the girls were looking at the two wide-eyed. Now, they had attracted the attention of the clerk, too.

"Don't you ever say that again, hear me?! Ever!" She was shouting, now, and Norm was in shock as she backed him up against an isle devider filled with bags of chips.

"I don't care _who 'calls the shots' _and I don't _care _that you're a genie- I'm not your ma-mast-" she seemed say the last word, and her eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, she was silent, and not one person in the store moved. Suddenly a woman and her five children made a loud entrance, breaking the silence and distracting the bystanders.

When she spoke next, she was quiet, and she wiped at her face angrily. "Norm- I wish you would never bring this up again. Never call me m-master. You don't have to- to come when I say your name like some dog on a leash. Don't feel like you have to be nice to me for some st-stupid reason. You're- you're better than that, you hear me? You're f-funny and you're s-smart and you're- you're- all the things- I''m n-n-not... and..." Suddenly, she dropped the soda in her hand, and gasped as though she couldn't breathe. With a panicked look around her, she sprinted dizzily for the door, leaving the paralyzed Norm to stare at her now-empty space.

...

When she didn't appear for six hours, Norm finally decided to go after her. He stood and raised his right hand-

But what would he say when he found her? He lowered his hand, collapsing back onto the couch. What was the TO say? Besides, he thought, little miss emotional had told him that he didn't have to be nice to her, so why should he care what happened to her- his eyes widened. What happened to... she'd been out in the city alone for hours. And not just any city- Dallas. The city with the worst crime-rates in the United States since 2010. He stood abruptly. What had he been thinking?! There was no telling what could have happened to her. Raising his hand once more, he snapped his fingers...


	6. Chapter 6: I Remember

Pt. 6- I Remember

Amanda was on a swing in a small, run-down park. The only swing there was left, thanks to some gang who thought it was cool to destroy childrens' playgrounds. She didn't know how long she had been there, because she didn't have a watch. The sky was now overcast, so she couldn't tell where the sun was in the sky. She probably shouldn't be out here, she thought. In this part of town, it was dangerous. But she had been coming to this park since she could remember, and it was a place of comfort to her.

She kicked the pebbles with her shoe, wondering what Norm was doing. She shouldn't have yelled at him like that. He probably didn't mean anything by calling her 'master'- it was just his job. What really got to her, though, was that he accepted his place so easily. It was like he didn't have any hope anymore, and didn't expect anything of her. He just wanted her to make her three wishes so... so what? He could find another human and repeat the cycle, a cycle that had been going on for goodness-knows how long...?

She looked up suddenly as a group of girls emerged from behind the undergrowth that surrounded the park. She recognised them as the girls from the convenience store- minus one. There were five of them, all pretty and stylish. The kinds of girls she envied.

She kept quiet, looking at the ground in inferiority, but looked up when they came to a stop in front of her.

"Um, hi," she stammered awkwardly. Three of them had their arms crossed. One stood in the back looking rather unhappy to be there. The one closest to her rested her hands on her hips.

"Hi, Amanda," she said, smiling.

"You know me?" Amanda asked, surprised.

"Of course, silly!" she replied, still smiling broadly. "We went to elementary school together!"

Amanda looked at her for a moment, then- "Yasmin?"

The girl nodded, striking a pose.

"Wow, you- you've changed!" Amanda barely recognised her. The Yasmin from elementary school had had worn glasses and had been chubby. This girl was thin and busty, with gorgeous blue eyes. "You look great!" Amanda smiled.

"Thanks, A_**man**_da."

Amanda blinked at the small stress on the word "man" in her name, but decided to ignore it It made her think of how they would twist aroundher name in elementary school, but it probablt wasn't on purpose. "N-no problem..." She looked at the ground again shyly.

After a few moments, Yasmin cleared her throut and went on. "So, um... it's been a while," she said a bit too innocently.

"Yasm-" said the timid-looking girl she didn't recognize.

"Hush, Jan," snapped Yasmin before turning sweetly back Amanda. "You, um... seem to have done pretty well for yourself."

Amanda looked back up. "What'do you mean?"

"Well," she laughed strangely, "how is it that _you _scored Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome when, _I_- as well-endowed as I am-"

"Yas-"

"I said HUSH, Jan!!" cried the worked up Yasmin, whipping her head to look over her shoulder. "She's got this coming!!"

Amanda was taken aback. Yasmin's smile was gone, now, and she looked kind of... scary.

"You know what? I'm **_not_** the pathetic little girl I used to be." She whipped her head back, eyes lit with what seemed like fire.

She looked quite terrifying, now.

"I- I don't understand-" Amanda fought the urge to back away.

"Unlike you.,I matured. Isn't it unfortunate, girls, how some girls mature and others don't?"

The girls behind her "Mmm-hmm"d in agreement.

Amanda was confused and hurt, now, and remained silent, looking up at her with big eyes.

"Remember that song they used to sing about you, Amanda? How did it go?"

Amanda remembered. How could she forget...? Her eyes grew wide and her heart pounded as suddenly, the girls behind Yasmin began to chant.

"Sorry Ms. Jackson, I am for real. Never meant to make your daughter cry, I apologize a million times. Sorry Ms. Jackson!"

"I remember," Amanda said, her throat catching.

"And what was it they used to call you, Amanda, do you remember that?"

Yasmin was definitely trying to hurt her, but why? They hadn't been the best of friends back in the day, but they had been kind to each other.

"What did they call you, Amanda?" one of the other girls mocked.

"Niagara falls," Amanda replied in a whisper.

"What was that?"

"They called me Niagara Falls," she said, more loudly, fighting against tears.

"Now, why did they do that, Amanda?"

"Because... Because I cried."

"Oh, that's right! You were our little class crybaby, weren't you?" she said in a mocking revelation.

Amanda was silent as the girls around her laughed. She looked at the ground, determined to not let the tears fall, determined not to give them that satisfaction.

"Ooh, is the little baby gonna cry? Did we hurt her feelings?" Yasmin teased cruelly in a baby-voice.

She failed herself as the tears slid down her cheeks and the girls burst into laughter. "Why are you doing this?" she asked quietly.

The laughing ceased. "We need to put you back in your place. We saw you with that hottie. Girls like you don't get guys like that. You hardly qualify as a girl. More of a little bug, if you ask me," Yasmin taunted, referring to her glasses and bringing up more painful memories.

The girls burst into laughter once more. Now, she recognized a few of them. One of the dark-skinned girls, Aisha, had stuck gum in her hair in the fifth grade. A Hispanic girl, Maria, had put her clothes and schoolwork in the showers in the sixth grade. Another black girl, Porsha, had beat her up during a game of flag-tag in the fourth grade and gotten her blamed and put in detention.

The tears kept falling, her face red with the shame of letting them win even after all these years. "So is that why you brought your friends? Because you're so brave and strong that you needed backup against Niagara Falls?" she asked in a scared anger. She knew she was getting herself in deeper, but she couldn't stop herself.

No one was laughing, now. "Say that, again, bitch," Yasmin commanded. "You calling me a coward?"

"I'm not the one that said it," Amanda retorted, looking up at her through the tears. The next thing she knew, she was lying on her back in a heap of pebbles.

"I could kick your ass, you bitch! You crybaby!" She kicked Amanda in the leg and forcefully slung a handful of pebbles at her as she lie there, covering her face and shielding her eyes.

As Yasmin continued to pelt her with rocks, Amanda remembered faintly how they used to throw the pebbles at her in elementary school, and would taunt her with nicknames like crybaby, Niagara Falls, and Amandork Jerkson. Somebody stomped on her arms, crushing her nose. She remembered how David Brumfield and David Smith had set up an on-line poll in the seventh grade, and she had been voted the ugliest girl in school. Somebody pounded her in the stomach. She remembered how in the eighth grade, a girl named Debby Miranda and her friends had attacked her with volleyballs right in front of the coach, who had forced the entire class to do push-ups and blamed _her _for disrupting the class. She felt someone yank at her right leg, and a searing pain as someone else jumped onto her kneecap. She remembered how, in the fourth grade, the Rogers twins had chased her down on her bicycle, pelting her with water balloons, until she had fallen off and ripped the skin off that knee... she remembered, and she cried. All her life, she had been nothing but a loser, a geek, a freak, a crybaby. Suddenly, she heard a voice, and the rocks stopped.

"What's going on?!"

Norm!

She continued to lie there, shielding her face. She didn't want him to see her looking so pathetic... before she realized that she was blacking out, she had fainted.


	7. Chapter 7: Lessons

Pt. 7- Lessons

Norm couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Amanda, battered and covered in dirt, go limp and the four girls who stood over her back off.

"What did you do to her?!" he rushed to her side, moving aside her arms to reveal broken glasses and a bloody, seemingly broken nose and busted lip. He looked up at the black-haired, blue-eyed girl, who batted her lashes and brushed aside her sweaty hair, panting.

"Nothing. Just taught her a lesson is all."

"A lesson?" replied Norm, looking down at the unconscious Amanda.

"Er- yeah. She forgot her place."

"Her place...?" Something went off inside him. His eyes sparked and a shadow fell over his face.

The other girls took a step back in fear. Something wasn't right.

"Yasmin- I never wanted-" one of the girls said shakily.

"Fine! You didn't do anything to help anyway, _Jan_! Get out of here! I never want to see your ugly-ass face again!" Yasmin spat, then turned away as the scared girl hurried out of sight. "Yes, her place," she said, picking up where she left off. "Girls like her are lesser beings," Yasmin said, as if she were explaining a common fact. "They should do what they're put on this earth to do- make us look good."

She stepped back abruptly as Norm began to chuckle softly, his shoulders heaving, his face still hidden. The chuckle grew into an outright laugh, which rose to a crescendo before tapering down to silence.

The girls were paralyzed with fear, all except Yasmin, who laid her hand on her hip and smiled.

"Tell me," Norm said darkly, not looking up, "if you had three wishes, what would you wish for?"

The girl tilted her head to one side in thought. "What a random question! Hmm... My first wish would of course be to be prettier, not that that's possible!" She laughed, flipping her hair. "Then, I'd wish to be rich and famous, so everyone could see my gorgeous and I'd have everything I deserved. Then..." she thought for a moment- "I'd wish that girls like _her_-" she pointed down to Amanda- "would just disappear and never again stain the earth with filth!"

"Selfish," he said suddenly, and all the girls jumped.

"Excuse me?!" the girl said indignantly.

"I said you're _selfish_," repeated Norm, shaking his head slowly and standing, looking down, his eyes still hidden.

"Me?! Selfish?!" she took a step toward him threateningly.

"Just like every other human I've ever met. All except her-" he indicated toward Amanda. He lifted his head up in realization. "And... that's why... it's because she's not..."

"Every other human?! What the hell are you-"

Norm's head whipped to face her, and a pulse of energy emanated from him, knocking all the girls backwards.

Yasmin gasped. His eyes glowed golden, and the air around him spiraled upward, picking up stones.

He walked slowly forward, and as his feet touched the ground, the pebbles beneath them disintegrated and turned a fine yellow powder which rose into the air to spiral around him in the heavy wind.

These selfish, self-centered girls had hurt Amanda- the only human to ever care about what _he_ wanted.

"_**YOU're the filth**_," he said in a terrifying, layered voice. Yasmin and the other girls cowered.

"_**YOU**__'__**re the stain of the earth**_!" he raised his arms in the air, coming off the ground.

"_**And YOU'RE - the ONES- who need to be TAUGHT a LESSON!**_" he snapped his fingers over his head, and the girls screamed as they were ripped out of existence.

...

He dropped his hands and descended to the ground, pebbles falling back to the earth around him. The glow faded from his eyes and he rushed back to Amanda, who still laid unconscious.

Kneeling down beside her, he studdied her injuries. Her right leg was twisted at an odd angle from the knee, and her left arm was the same. Her nose was, in fact, broken, and the blood from her busted lip had dried in a trickle down her chin. She was covered in pebbles and dirt, and with a sweeping motion of his hand, he blew all the debris away.

He couldn't take a chance healing her. He was a genie, not a medical expert, and anything he tried could backfire and turn out worse. He wouldn't risk that.

He stood and raised his hands, carefully lifting her into the air with an invisible force. He needed to get her some real magical help, but the only place he could think of was...

Sighing and bowing his head, he raised his right hand and snapped. Both of them disappeared...


	8. Chapter 8: Fairy World

Author's Note: This chapter was fun to write. ;)

Pt. 8 - Fairy World

When he had shown up in Fairy World, he'd made quite a scene. After some explanation, he had been shown to Fairy World's general hospital, where he had turned the girl over to a fairy doctor and then been left to wait outside in the empty ER waiting room.

He sat with his head in his hands, still in his human form, the room silent except for the ticking of a clock.

It was all his fault, he kept thinking. If he had gone after her, if he'd looked for her sooner, none of this would have happened...

After a while, he heard a door open, and then a familiar voice shout, "Oh no! It's Norm, the evil genie!!"

He jolted up to find a green haired and pink haired couple of fairies in the doorway. Cosmo, the green-haired man, cowered behind his pink-haired wife.

"What are you doing here?!" Wanda shouted, raising her glowing wand in anger.

"You haven't heard? I thought it would be all over the fairy news by now," replied Norm in annoyance. The last thing he wanted to do was explain himself, especially to these two idiots.

"Wait- that genie who showed up with a hurt human girl is YOU?!" Wanda cried in shock.

"But the guy on TV said that it was a _nice _genie," said Cosmo skeptically, coming out from behind his wife.

"You can't be serious!! That's YOU?!" Wanda cried.

Norm flushed red. "Yeah, okay?! It's me!! Sheesh!!" He threw his hands in the air angrily at the last words, then dropped his head back down toward the floor.

Cosmo and Wanda looked at each other with raised brows.

"Soooo, what happened?" Cosmo asked curiously.

"I don't know," groaned Norm, rubbing the side of his face.

Wanda questioned further. "Well then how did she get hurt? Did you-"

He jumped to his feet. "No! It wasn't me, it was some stupid teenagers! Jeez, give me a break! You think I'm that bad a guy!?"

"Well," said Cosmo, floating forward in thought, "you _did_try to trick us out of our job."

"And hurt our god-child," added Wanda.

"And kill us," concluded Cosmo.

"Alright, alright, I'm a bad guy, but I didn't do it."

At that moment, a nurse floated out of another door.

"Mr. um, Norm?" she asked, looking at her clipboard.

He looked at her.

"The doctor wants to see you." She noticed the other two. "Oh, and you two can come on in, too."

"But-" Norm began as Cosmo rushed in the door with a "wheeee!" followed by Wanda. Defeated, he slouched and followed.

"I thought you were afraid of the Doctor, Cosmo," the nurse stated.

"Not this time! This time, we're here for baby Poo-" Wanda slapped her hand over his mouth with a "_hush!"_, looking at Norm.

"Baby poo?" questioned Norm, raising a brow.

"Oh, right, you're here to schedule little Poof's checkup!" said the nurse, smiling.

Cosmo smiled apologetically and Wanda looked angrily at him.

Norm opened his mouth to question further, but was interrupted as they entered the Doctor's office to find the doctor with a woman on each side, telling some story about a golf tournament.

"Ahem," said the nurse before stepping out of the room and closing the door.

The three looked up, and the two women disappeared.

The doctor floated over to them gravely, stopping in front of Norm.

"Are you the-" he paused for a few seconds, whipping off his glasses, "-genie who brought the human to our hospital?" he asked dramatically.

"No, that's the other genie in the room. YES, I brought her." Norm rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Before I tell you her condition, can you-" pause, replace glasses- "tell me what happened?"

"Why?" Norm asked in surprise.

"Well, you either tell me, or you tell Jorgen. It's-" whip off glasses- "standard procedure."

Norm went green. He never, ever wanted to see Jorgen again. Ever. "She was attacked by some other humans. Some, ah, teenage girls."

"Do you know why?" the doctor asked, raising his hand and brows in question.

"They said it was to put her in her- To teach her a- _Why_ do I have to tell you this again?"

"Oh, no reason, actually..." he replaced his glasses and continued, in a more professional tone, "I was just curious. She had some serious injuries- internal bleeding, broken bones, a fracture, head trauma..." He counted them off on his fingers.

With each revelation, Norm sunk lower.

"Well," Wanda said, "how is she?"

"Oh, she should be alright."

Norm headed for the door, intent to see her-

"By the way," the doctor said, "what happened to the other girls?"

Norm froze. "... Why?"

The three fairies were silent, and looked at each other with raised brows.

Norm reached for the doorknob again-

"Room 302."

"Thanks." Then, he exited.

...

Elsewhere:

Amanda awoke in a hospital bed and sat up gingerly. She felt okay, but a little stiff. How did she get here- wherever here was? Slinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she exited through the only door, eager to find out the answers to her 'how' and 'where'.

She walked down an empty hall decked in pinks, blues, yellows, and an assortment of bright, cheery colors. It was a cute little place, like something from a fairy tale... she came to what appeared to be a pair of elevators. She noticed that the one on her right was on its way up, and she clicked the down button. Immediately, the one on her left opened, and she stepped into the empty, brightly decorated space and clicked '1.' The doors closed and a swingy music accompanied her down one story until a _ding _sounded and the doors opened, revealing an almost identical corridor to the one she had just left.

Walking down the hall and humming the catchy elevator tune, she heard the sudden sound of voices and opened a door to reveal two hovering, tiny figures, who both turned to see her.

"Hey, you're that human!" cried the green-haired one.

"I am?" Amanda replied, eyes wide. What on _earth_...?

"Uh- How old are you, anyway?" the pink-haired one asked, taken aback at the girl's size.

"Seventeen."

A short silence followed.

"Um... what- are you?" Amanda asked. She didn't want to seem rude, but she had to know.

"We're faaaairies! See?" The green haired one turned around and pointed at a pair of tiny wings with a star-shaped wand.

"I'm Wanda, and this is Cosmo," the woman said, smiling and indicating the man.

"Oh. I'm Amanda. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, you're so polite!" Wanda cried approvingly, wondering why such a seemingly sweet girl had ended up with _Norm._

Amanda was thinking double-time trying to take this in. Fairies. Like in the fairy tales. Real ones.

Of course, she shouldn't be surprised, especially after having met Norm-

"Norm!" she gasped suddenly, aloud, pupils dilating- In a flash, he was there.


	9. Chapter 9: A Blast From His Past

Author's Note: Hm. A lot of dialogue in this chapter. Yucky, yucky. But anyway- it was fun to write. FINALLY, right? I wrote this last week, but my laptop kinda died... and I didn't get around to it until now.

Pt. 9 - A Blast From His Past

_In the last chapter: _

"Norm!" she gasped suddenly, aloud, pupils dilating- In a flash, he was there...

...

"There you are! I was looking all over for you!" Norm cried, grabbing her by the shoulders and furrowing his brows.

"I told you not to come when I called you!" Amanda said, recovering from the shock and feeling a sense of shame looking at who she assumed to be her rescuer. She hated that he had seen her looking so pathetic.

"Ah ha, _wrong_," he said, releasing her and pointing in her face. "You said I didn't _have_ to. You never said-" he pointed upward, grinning- "not to." Norm still felt responsible for what he had let happen to Amanda. He hated that he even _cared _what happened to her- but she was a good kid. The only one he'd ever known. Well, not entirely. Chester McBadbat, one of his previous masters, had been what many would consider a good kid. He was young- generous, for the most part, but still, Chester had never been generous to _him._ Amanda was good to everyone, and had what many humans lacked- a sense of humility. After seeing what the girls had done to her, he understood why, too. She knew what it was like to be treated like something worse than dirt, and so she could never allow anyone else to be treated that way.

Norm raised his brows and frowned to find Amanda afraid to meet his gaze, and his feeling of guilt doubled.

"Look," he began.

"I'm sor-" they both said in unison, then stopped.

"What?" Amanda asked confusedly, looking up into his eyes.

"Oh, ah, nothing," Norm replied, stopping himself, crossing his arms, and looking at the wall.

"Oh. Well I'm, um... sorry I yelled at you earlier." She looked at her feet.

He looked at her in disbelief. _She_ was sorry?! After all that had happened to her, _she_ was the one apologizing?!

"That's _it?!_" he cried, throwing his hands in the air.

She looked up, worried. Was he mad at her...?

"You nearly got yourself _killed_! Why didn't you call me?!"

"Were you- were you worried about me...?" she asked confusedly.

Norm's eyes went wide, he opened his mouth to speak, closed it, looked around and back to her, then crossed his arms, looked away and said protestingly, "No!"

There was a silence.

Cosmo and Wanda looked back and forth between them.

"You were, weren't you?" Amanda asked, eyes wide.

More silence.

Norm's face was flushed as he intently continued to avoid her gaze.

"Uh- we should-" Wanda began awkwardly, indicating toward the door.

"Aw!!" Cosmo cooed, grabbing a shocked Amanda and Norm and pulling them into a group-hug. "it's like a soooap opera, except if this was a soap opera," he floated back, leaving Norm to wrench away from Amanda angrily and Amanda to blush madly, and threw his thumb over his shoulder at the door, "then somebody would bust through the door right now and ruin the moment-"

The door opened suddenly, and through the doorway glided two beautiful female genies.

Amanda stared, mouth slightly open. _'They're so pretty...'_ she thought, wondering vaguely if all genies were good-looking.

"What- what are you ladies doing here?!" Norm cried, and Amanda looked at him in surprise.

_'I shouldn't be surprised,' _she thought. After all, Norm had to have friends, didn't he...? What surprised her most was the sudden, heavy pain in her chest.

"Oh, Norm! We heard _all_ about it! I absolutely_ love _what you've done with your hair!" the blonde one cried, hugging his arm. Amanda couldn't help but notice that she had a sweet, lovely voice.

"We came as quickly as we could- Yes, it suits you," the dark-skinned one agreed in an equally-sweet, seductive voice, taking his other arm and twirling a strand of it around her finger.

Amanda looked down and blushed as their eyes fell upon her.

"Is this her?" the dark one asked.

"Er- yeah," Norm said embarrassed, not looking at her.

Amanda glanced up to see the two women exchange looks.

"Would you excuse us for a moment?" Without waiting for an answer, the two women pulled Norm out the door, pulling it almost shut.

They began talking in hushed voices, but the human girl and the two fairies could hear them clearly through the crack in the door.

"My, my, Norm," came one sweet voice, "she isn't much to look at is she?"

"Ah- Well, I guess not." Norm replied.

"So where have you been hiding these past ten years?"

"I'd, ah, rather not talk about it."

"Oh, poor _Norm_... you still haven't shaken your master off, yet?" one of the women cooed.

"Don't worry about it, huh? I've got it _under control_," he said.

Amanda was staring at the door with wide eyes.

"Well, from the looks of this one, I'd say it shouldn't take a week!" The women laughed.

"Ah haha!" he laughed, joining in. To Amanda, the laugh sounded strained and practiced, though, she realized, she'd never really heard him laugh untill now...

Amanda didn't move.

At this point, Wanda had had about enough. She raised her wand and the door shut, muffling the sound of their laughter.

"Sooo!" she said innocently, floating in front of the door. "How'd you wind up here?"

"Huh?" Amanda said, snapping out of her trance.

Wanda repeated her question, trying her best to cover the sound of the voices on the other side of the door.

"Oh. Some girls from my school thought Norm and I were... _together_."

"Together? I don't get it," Cosmo said. "What does it matter if-"

"She means that they thought she was _dating_ Norm!" stressed Wanda.

"Really?! Eeeeeew!"

Wanda rolled her eyes and turned away from her twitching husband, silently in agreement. "He's a little too old for you, don'tcha think?"

"I don't know how old he is. I never bothered to ask- and we're not together!!"

"Whew! That's a relief!" Cosmo said.

"Okay, so the girls thought you were together, " Wanda shrugged. "How did you end up here?"

"They got mad. They said that I didn't deserve a guy like Norm- and they were right, but that's not the point. They beat me up, I guess."

"What?!" Cosmo and Wanda cried in unison.

"It's no big deal," she said hastily, getting red in the face.

"No big deal?! They got away with something like that?!"

"I dunno. I guess so. I blacked out when Norm showed up..."

"I wonder what Norm _did_. He didn't tell us," Cosmo said, crossing his arms indignantly.

"He wouldn't do anything- would he? I mean, he wouldn't hurt anybody!" Amanda's eyes went wide.

"Are you kidding?!" Cosmo cried, throwing his hands in the air.

"Norm, not hurt anybody?" Wanda agreed, pushing Cosmo roughly. "You _have_ to be kidding."

"What do you mean?" Amanda couldn't imagine Norm hurting anyone; though, she realized, she'd only known him for three days. But still, there's no way he would...

"Well, to put it nicely-" Wanda began.

"-He's a _big jerk_!" Cosmo cried, knocking his wife out of the way.

"Oh." Amanda's eyes went wide. "He's never been a jerk to me."

"You just _wait_," Cosmo said, pointing his finger at her.

Wanda floated back toward Cosmo, poofing a bazooka-type weapon into her hands and aiming it at her husband. "YOU- oh, no! What's wrong?!" she cried worriedly, lowering the gun upon finding Amanda in tears.

"I'm- I'm sorry-" she gasped in reply, wiping at her face angrily. "I'm always doing this... I'm such a _crybaby_..."

"Crybaby? You don't _look_ like a baby."

Amanda blinked surprisedly up at Norm with puffy red eyes. The two women were gone.

"Oh. Hi."

"Hi." He crossed his arms, looking down at her. "What's wrong _now_?"

"Nothing. I'm just... stupid. It's nothing."

"Stupid? Cosmo's stupid," Wanda said matter-of-factly, glaring at her husband out of the corner of her eye and poofing away the scary-looking bazooka, "you're not stupid."

"Heeeey!" Cosmo cried indignantly.

Amanda giggled tearily, then- "Oh no! Norm- we have to get home!"

...

"Amanda! Where were you?! We were worried sick!"

"Sorry, mom, I-"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, young lady," her father said darkly.

"Where were you?!" her mother repeated.

"I was... walking."

"You were _walking_? All night?!"

"Um... yeah."

"Well, you can _walk_ right up to your room. You're _grounded_!"

...

Amanda slumped down on her bed in defeat. Staring up at the ceiling, she grumbled half-mindedly, half asleep, "sometimes I just wish I could go on a vacation..."

...

Author's Note: So. You guys remember the two girl genies from Fairy Idol? Yah. I totally had to use them. I drew them, too! If you haven't already checked it out, there's a link on my profile page to a drawing I did of the Wishes characters. I remade the drawing, but I've yet to scan it. I should go do that now... Another note: Amanda seems to have some emotional problems, doesn't she? Well, can you really blame her after all that's been done to her? Just so you know, she _does_ have a reason for crying, even though she isn't ready to talk about it yet. Well, she might not even recognize it, yet. But anyway... I'm getting to work on the next chapter, too, and should post it sometime soon. I have to make up for my temporary absence!


	10. Chapter 9,5: The Lost Chapter

Author's Note: Sorry for the inconvenience, guys, I don't know how it got cut out. But I really love this part and it's totally essential.

...............

Recap:

"Amanda! Where were you?! We were worried sick!"

"Sorry, mom, I-"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, young lady," her father said darkly.

"Where were you?!" her mother repeated.

"I was... walking."

"You were walking? All night?!"

"Um... yeah."

"Well, you can walk right up to your room. You're _grounded_!"

Pt. 9.5 - The Lost Chapter

.............

Amanda slumped down on her bed in defeat. Staring up at the ceiling, she grumbled half-mindedly, half asleep, "sometimes I just wish I could go on a vacation..."

...............

Norm was kicking back in his lamp, half asleep on a plush, pillow-covered sofa. In his normal, genie form once again, his hands were folded behind his head, and though he seemed at peace with his eyes closed behind his _unnecessary_ but _stylish _sunglasses, he was actually deep in thought.

Yesterday had been an interesting day. He'd made sure to promise the girls a date, and he was sure he could make it. They were right- his current master was a pushover. He could be out of here in no time.

The girls had been free for centuries. It was easy enough to assume that as beautiful women, they could enchant any man, and just as easily use their feminine charm to wriggle their way out of their masters' hands and out of their bonds as genies.

Norm had had a much worse string of luck, being utilized over and over to grant men their selfish whims, unable to trick his way out of servitude. Now, however, with this young, naïve girl practically in the palm of his hand, freedom seemed an arm's length away.

Stirring and laying an arm over his eyes to block out the light, he shoved a twinge of guilt to the back of his mind. Sure, she _was_ a good, kind kid who was the first human to care about _his_ feelings; that would hardly matter when he was free from _humans_ forever. Wasn't it _his_ turn to get a wish? He'd stepped on others to get what he wanted, and she would be no different once he was gone and never had to see her again, never had to hear her apologize, never had to see her cry...

He suddenly lifted his arm and opened opened his eyes as he heard an echoing voice. She was making a wish.

_'Sometimes I just wish I could go on a vacation...'_

He was still and silent for a moment, his arm resting on his forehead and his eyes staring forward. He smiled, then laughed, shaking his head disbeleivingly. ...it could wait.

...


	11. Chapter 10: Aloha, Amanda pt1

Author's Note: Geez, this took forever. No, it's not really a huge, important chapter, but I've been really busy with schoolwork and Academic Decathlon and WoWAY and all kinds of junk that kept screaming at me "PUT OFF WRITING WISHES!" Plus, I'm working on two other stories: a Crocker story and an Anti-Cosmo story. My THREE FAVORITE CHARACTERS shall each have their own story!! Okay, anyway. Sorry for the wait and thanks for sticking with Wishes!

Pt. 10 - Aloha, Amanda

When Amanda woke up to find blinding light in her face, she immediately assumed she'd left her blinds open, covered her face with her blanket, and tried to go back to sleep. It took her only a few seconds to realize that she wasn't in her own lumpy bed or under her own matty blanket, and when she did, she jolted, throwing the silky blanket off of her and sitting up to find herself assaulted by blinding rays of sunlight that streamed in from a large, open, glass doorway.

"Geez, kid, I thought you were going to spend your whole vacation sleeping!"

"Va-vacation?!" Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she focused in on Norm, who wore a half-way unbuttoned Hawaiian-print shirt and stood leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

He moved away from the wall and came to stand over her bed. "That's right," he said shortly, smiling broadly. "Now get dressed," he said, snapping once.

Amanda looked down to find herself suddenly wearing a loose, white sundress. Automatically, she slung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, lost for words. Vacation...? What- Then she remembered. She had wished to go on vacation! But she hadn't said anything about it to Norm...! Well, he must have heard her... but that left only one wish-!

"Hey!" Amanda was snapped out of her reverie with a jolt as she realized she was standing in the room alone. "Norm!!"

She hurried out of the glass doorway and into the sunlight, then gasped.

"It's..." Everything was silent for several moments, until-

"Beautiful, right?" came an unfamiliar voice to her left.

She spun to find a tall, dark-skinned boy standing in the grass leaning against a large palm, then blushingly followed his gaze out into the blue ocean. It _was_ beautiful, she thought, eyes glazing over. The sand was so white, the exotic plants around her all the colors of the rainbow, the sky brilliant blue with occasional flecks of white cloud that could have been painted there.

"Yeah," she said, smiling and looking back to the boy, who walked toward her.

He wore swim shorts, sandals, and a seashell necklace, and had long, bleached-blonde hair and smooth, toned muscles. He smiled, and she noticed that his teeth were a little crooked- unlike Norm's, she noted. As he came to a stop in front of her, she noticed that he had light brown eyes that were slanted at the corners.

"I don't think I have seen you around before. Are you a tourist?" he asked, gazing at her light skin. He had an island-ish accent.

"Er, yeah- vacation. I'm on vacation... vacationing..." she stammered.

He laughed. It was a clear, outgoing laugh, not unkind. "Have you been to Hana before?"

Hana? Hana, Hawaii? So that's where she was. "No. I've never been to any island before."

"Ah," he smiled again, "a main-lander." He moved closer, and said good-naturedly with a gleam in his eye, "Well, my lovely main-lander, welcome to our home. I hope you will allow me to show you arou-"

The boy was interrupted as a voice called out, "Hey, Little Miss Sleeps-A-Lot, are you-" Norm cut off as he emerged from a wall of growth to find Amanda standing next to a tall boy he didn't recognize. He narrowed his eyes as the boy looked at him and smirked, then put on a solemn expression and looked back at Amanda, who blushed awkwardly.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend. I apologize," the boy said as Norm approached them.

"Boyfrie- who, Norm...?! No- he's not my-"

"Who are you?" Norm asked, crossing his arms and looking down on the young man- the boy was shorter than him by about six inches.

"I am Ki'lua. And you? 'Norm,' correct? I am your neighbor. I live in that direction... though it is strange that I have never seen this house before, as I have lived here all my life." The boy looked up at him with a polite smile that did not reach his eyes.

Norm looked the boy over with suspicion. Something wasn't right about him...

The boy looked back to Amanda and smiled broadly. "I hope your name isn't really 'Miss Sleeps-A-Lot,'" he laughed.

Amanda's eyes went wide and pink flushed around her cheeks, then she giggled. "No, no! My name is Amanda. But you can call me that if you really want to!"

Norm raised a brow as the two laughed together. Amanda, cracking jokes (badly, he might add)? Giggling like a little girl? There could only be one explanation for her bizarre behavior... she _liked_ the brown-eyed boy.

Somehow, though the air was quite warm, Ki'lua and Amanda felt a chill and shivered.

"Amanda, let's go," Norm said, gripping her shoulder and steering her toward the beach.

"But-" Amanda protested-

"You'll have time to flirt with the locals later," he snapped, surprising her.

"Another time, Miss Sleeps-A-Lot!" Ki'lua called out teasingly as Norm and Amanda walked out into the blinding sunlight.

...

Author's Note: I'd like some requests for drawings from my story, so if y'all would like a scene drawn, let me know, okay...? Pretty please??


	12. Chapter 11: Aloha, Amanda pt2

Author's Note: Warning: cantains fluff. I couldn't help myself. This is a cutesy chapter, but believe, me, I AM going somewhere with all this "cutesiness," so just bear with it! Also, thanks to starreader for the commission! Looking forward to working on it through precalculus tomorrow! ;) I know, I'm a bad person.

Also: there're a lot of perspective changes through this, but from what I can tell, it's easy to follow. If you don't like it, let me know; I'm not used to doing so many switches.

Pt. 11 - Aloha, Amanda pt. 2

A half an hour later, she was sitting cross-legged in the sand, her back against a palm tree, while Norm swayed with the light breeze in a rope-hammock.

"So, umm... " Amanda began, tearing her eyes away from the group of surfers and looking to Norm.

He acknowledged her with a raised brow, not opening his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"Why'd you pick Hawaii?" she asked. "You know, instead of, like, Canada or something?"

He surprised her with a sudden, amused laugh.

She noticed that it was a pleasant, natural laugh; one unlike she'd heard him laugh before.

"Canada," he mumbled, grinning, as the laughter subsided.

Amanda didn't get it.

He rubbed his eyes, then swung his legs over the edge of the hammock and sat up. Looking at her from behind his sunglasses, he said, "I like Hawaii."

"Oh," she said shortly. Made sense.

He looked out into the water, then- "Hey, uh, you surf?" he asked, standing up and extending his hand down to her.

"Er- no," she said, taking his hand cautiously and allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"Me neither! Let's do it, huh?" he suggested with a genuine excitement.

"But I can't-"

"Ap ap ap!" he silenced her, waving a finger in the air disapprovingly. "_Can't _or _shan't_, kid? From what I can tell, you're scared to even try!"

He was teasing her! Trying to needle her into it-!

"I am NOT scared!!" she protested, turning beet-red.

He smiled. Too easy. "Oh really?" he said in a mockingly disdainful tone. "Why don't you _prove it?_"

"_Fine!_"she said hotly, determined to take on the challenge. She would prove she wasn't scared-! She was, but no way would she let Norm know that!

Norm grinned, raising a brow, and snapped his fingers. From nowhere appeared two long surfboards, which hung in the air ahead of them.

Amanda was offended to find that hers was a bright pink while Norm's was a golden-yellow, but said nothing, knowing he was teasing her. She snatched the board from the air, feeling the invisible force release its grip, and stumbled with the sudden weight.

Taking his board with ease, Norm suppressed laughter.

The white sand was hot under their feet as they made their way to the wild water.

Amanda was too miffed about Norm's needling to notice that quite a few pairs of long-lashed eyes following the genie, who was too excited about surfing and too used to it to notice, either.

They halted at the edge of the water.

"Uh-" Amanda began, noticing that they were both still in their clothes.

"Oh, right." Norm raised his free hand-

"Don't let anyone see!" Amanda hissed, , glancing around nervously. Norm might not care who knew he was a genie, but Amanda didn't want to attract any attention, especially since she had finally noticed a good many bikini-clad figures eyeing her companion hungrily.

He rolled his eyes. "I know what I'm doing, kid," he said, then snapped. No one seemed to notice Norm's or Amanda's instant wardrobe change- except Amanda who noticed two things at once that made her drop the surfboard. "I made it so they don't notice- Jeez, Amanda, why're you-"

"I'm -" she cut off and hugged herself, feeling horribly exposed, and looked frantically from Norm to the ground, turning red once again. She didn't know how to feel with the sudden change. She was in a bikini, and her smooth, pale stomach stood out like a sore thumb next to... Norm's dark, toned chest. Her throat caught, and embarrassment flooded through her entire body as the already scalding air kicked up the temperature a few notches.

"What?" Norm asked, baffled. He couldn't see anything wrong. Maybe she just didn't want to get burnt? No problem.

"Here," he said, pulling a bottle of SPF 50 from the air and holding it out to her.

She couldn't look- she couldn't- she snatched the sunscreen from his hand, and turned away. No _way _would she look... she really didn't need to. Flushed, she began to aggressively scrub the sunscreen onto her skin. The image was burnt into her brain like a photo onto film: coppery, dark skin, chiseled, muscular torso, and dark, thick chest hair that could only belong to a mature man... aaagh get it out of her head!

"Uh- kid?" Norm's eyes were opened in astonishment. She was rubbing so much sunscreen onto her skin- so aggressively- that he was sure she would give herself a rash. "Er- that's enough of that, don't you think?" he reached around her, plucking it from her hand.

"R-right." She bent down and pulled her board up under her arm once again, then hurried off into the water, blushing madly.

Norm, shaking his head, mumbled "I give up," and tossed the bottle to the sand, following Amanda into the cool surf.

...

Author's Note: Still taking requests!


	13. Chapter 12: First Kiss

Author's Note: I almost ended it here. Of course, there would have bee a sequel, but... I decided to keep it going. And I really tried to make this a longer chapter.

EDIT: I fixed this chapter. It went to fast for me, actually (thanks for pointing that out, hockeyfreak! I went back and reread it and it went so fast it almost didn't make any sense.) So, sorry about this, but I REALLY needed to fix it. Also, I didn't like where the last chapter went, so I changed that, too. Haha, hope it turns out for the better! And if you don't think so, I do, so boohoo on you... Don't hate me too much- I hadn't really meant to post it just yet. So, if you saw the old chapter... forget it ever existed!

Pt. 12 - First Kiss

"I just _can't _do it!" Amanda cried in frustration, exhaustedly clinging to the board to keep herself afloat. The sky was pink and purple as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon.

"Haa haaaa! Yeah!!"

She spun around to see Norm riding a huge wave- just in time to have it collapse on top of her with titanic force. She came up sputtering and took hold of the board once again, more sour than ever.

"Isn't this fun?!" he asked, eyes lit excitedly, paddling over to her on his board.

She shot him a _look_ through red, salty eyes. "I can't do it," she repeated ashamedly, turning pink and laying her head in her arms.

Norm's eyes widened. He had assumed that she was having as much fun as he was. He propped himself into a seated position. "Sure you can, kid!" he said encouragingly.

"No, I can't!" she cried, looking up at him tearily. "You were right- I'm scared, okay? I freak out _every time_..."

"Why?" he asked, a twinge of sympathy in his chest.

"I know I'll fall! I'm not strong..." she looked down, then added blushingly, "like you."

He laughed. "Hey, hey, hey," he said, "you don't need to be strong to do this." He watched her struggle to get back into a seated position on her board. She really was wimpy, wasn't she? For a girl who was about to turn 18, she still hinted little-girl chubbiness around her face and had childishly pale skin and round, smooth features... as his eyes moved across her pink-and-ivory flesh, he spotted what appeared to be a scar on her upper left hip.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked randomly, laying a finger on it curiously.

She jumped as he made the contact. Though it was innocent, the spot sill tingled as he let his hand drop.

"Oh. Um, I don't really remember. I have a lot of scars, but I don't have any idea where they came from."

_I'll say, _Norm thought, raising a brow. "Look," he said, looking out into the water, "I can give you some help getting up, alright?"

"What kind of help?" she asked nervously.

. . . .

"Aaaaaaagh! Nooorm! I can't do this!!"

"You're doing fine! Just stay balanced!" he replied from behind her.

He clenched her waist firmly from the back of the board, holding her steady on the front.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh-!" she cried as they were lifted away by the huge wave. Her toes curled as if holding to the board for her life, and she clenched her eyes shut-

"You're doing it, Amanda! Open your eyes!" Norm's voice cried next to her ear.

Her eyes flew open, and she gasped in delight and shock to find that they were, in fact, riding the top of the wave.

"I'm going to let go!" Norm shouted over the roar of the water.

"What-_ no_!"

"Here I go!"

"Norm-!"

She felt the pressure and the support leave her waist, and she wobbled in a sudden panic-

"You can do it, kid!"

-But she wouldn't let that big puddle, the ocean, conquer her! And no way would she fall, now!

She furrowed her brows in determination, found her balance, and rode the twelve-foot wave all the way to the edge of the beach, where she was surprised to be assaulted with a blast of applause as she stumbled onto the sand.

"I- I did it!" She flushed with pleasure and embarrassment as a small crowd gathered around her.

"That was amazing!" "Are you a pro?!" "That wave was huge!"

She looked around to find Norm also surrounded- though his crowd was composed entirely of skimpily-clad, tan women.

"Is that your little sister? You're such a sweetie!" "What a good big brother!" "You're so strong!"

Her excitement evaporated, leaving her with a hollow, empty feeling. With a half-hearted smile, she slipped away from her crowd of fans and toward the house. As she came to the edge of the foliage, she looked over her shoulder and went red to find Norm with his arm around one of the prettier women and saying something that got them all giggling-

"Oomph!"

"My apologies! Oh- Amanda! It's you!"

"Ki'lua?" Amanda said dazedly, looking up from where she had fallen backward into the sand.

He smiled broadly at her. "Where are you running to?" he asked, reaching down to help her up. "Your new friends will miss you!" he laughed, indicating the small group who had begun flocking to Norm.

"You saw me?" she asked, allowing him to pull her easily to her feet.

"You were amazing!"

"Really...? You thought so?" She blushed, smiling with modest glee.

"Oh, yeah! You have surfed long?"

"Um... actually, this was my first time."

"You're joking me!" he smiled at her, eyes glittering with something that looked like triumph.

She shook her head, breathless.

"You're a natural, Amanda!"

There was a silence.

"So... your boyfriend seems to be having a good time," he said awkwardly, leaning on his arm against a tree and looking out toward the beach where Norm was still flirting shamelessly.

"He's _not_ my boyfriend!" she explained with a frown, blushing madly and following his gaze then snapping her eyes back quickly. "He's my, um... chaperon."

At this, Ki'lua's face lit up, looking back to her and pushing himself back into a standing position. "Really? What a relief!"

"Huh?" Amanda said confusedly, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Why'dyou say that?"

"Well, if you will pardon me saying so, you're a very cute girl, and... y'know..." he shrugged, a bit of pink in his tan cheeks.

Her blush deepened. "Um... thanks," she said with a shy smile, suddenly very self-conscious and tingly.

"Since- since you are not with anyone..." he said shyly, "how would you like me to show you around the island?"

"Sure!" she said, a little too quickly. She slapped herself internally. She was coming off as desperate, wasn't she??

"Great!!" he replied, beaming with joy and seemingly not noticing her eagerness.

"But, um-" she added nervously, "-it's getting pretty dark, and we wouldn't really be able to, you know, cover much ground before dark. How about tomorrow...?"

"Of- of course," he said, a bit disappointedly. "Well, then..."

"-see you tomorrow!" she said breathlessly.

"Yeah," he said, smiling once more, eyes sparkling, "tomorrow."

In one quick movement, he stepped forward, leaned down, and kissed her.

Her eyes went wide in shock, and the butterflies in her tummy did cartwheels. She could have sworn she saw stars as he pulled away, face red in embarrassment, and rushed off into the shadows of the foliage. Slowly, she came to her senses, then reached up and touched her lips, which were still hot and tingling. Her first kiss...!

"Work fast, dont'cha, kid?" came a voice from her right.

She turned to find Norm standing there frozen, eyes wide.

"Never would've thought," he said, almost coldly. "Y'know, you only met that guy this morning."

Embarrassed, flustered, and indignant, Amanda shot back, surprising herself, "You're one to talk, _big brother! _How long have you known the 'Hawaii's-Skimpiest-Bikini-Squad' girls, huh??"

"That's different-"

"Yeah, because _I'm_ not good enough to have a social life, right?!" she interrupted angrily, face burning. She was on an emotion-overload- all inhibitions gone.

"No-!" he cried indignantly, taken aback-

"I'm not one of the _pretty_ people, like you, so I can just _stay in my place _and live to make everyone else look good?!"

"Wha- no, I-"

"You know what?! Just- just- go find your new fan-girls or something! I'm not a baby-!"

"Well, I'm glad you finally figured _that _out!" Norm shouted, returning the anger.

Suddenly, the small bout came to an end and it was silent, the only sounds of crickets and waves as the sun finally disappeared over the horizon and the stars slowly flickered to life above. Amanda was surprised to find hot tears streaming down her salty, sticky face.

"Look," Norm said, breaking the silence and rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry, okay? I guess it's none of my business."

"No- I'm sorry, too. I don't know why I got mad..."

"Well I'm glad you did. It's about time you got mad about something." In the dark, a grin spread across his face. "But seriously- 'Hawaii's Skimpiest Bikini Squad'?"

"Oh, shut up," she said bitterly, smiling against her will as he broke into a laugh and led her up toward the house.

...

Author's Note: I've sent many of you PMs, but I don't know if you've gotten them because I have NO IDEA how to check my inbox. Anybody have any clue how to get there? Also, I've posted my e-mail address, finally. I don't know why it was hidden in the first place. :S


	14. Chapter 13: Warning

Author's Note: Thank you guys SO much for sticking with my story, and a special thanks to all those who've waited so long for a new chapter and who've faved, watched, and commented. Also, many thanks to my fellow grammar freaks who've pointed out some incredibly annoying typos. I've gone back to a few chapters and revised a few minor things. Somehow, an entire section got cut out between Pt.s 9 and 10, and I just loved that part so much that I'm going to post it as " Pt. 9.5, " though technically it takes place at the same time as the last part in Pt.9... please take the time to read it. It explains SO many questions that've been asked.

Well, I have to give SOME kind of explanation on why I 've taken so long to update, and I'll try to keep it short: Academic Decathlon team went to State (I won a medal in Language and Literature), leaving me NO free time at ALL from January to mid-February. My teachers took the liberty of entering me in an animation competition, and I've been staying after school until around 11 lately to work on the darned project that's due April 3rd (... or ninth...). Family crap going on, and, won't lie, general laziness. I've been more into art than writing lately. But anyway, short chapter, but a good one, almost entirely dialogue, and I'm already almost through with Pt. 14.

Oh, another note, I really like to reply to my loyal commenters, so if at all possible, please leave some way to contact you if you aren't a registered member. Thanks so much- again! ~

And ANOTHER note: I didn't think I'd need disclaimers 'cause this is an exclusively fanfic site, but I don't own any of Butch Hartman's stuff.

EDIT:: My animation won first in state! Verynice! ;PP Wish I got some kind of prize, though. Last year I would've won a serious scholarship, but they changed the grading system and all I got this year was a lousy certificate sent in the mail... :/

Pt. 13 - A Warning

Amanda and Norm had settled down and each gotten into their own fluffy beds. All the lights were out and the curtains were drawn, blocking out all light.

"Norm...?" Amanda called out through the dark.

"Hmm?" he said sleepily.

"I... had a lot of fun today."

"Mmmmm."

A few minutes passed, then- "Norm?"

"Whaaaat...?" he groaned groggily.

"...thanks."

"For what?"

"For... y'know. Being my friend."

"Mmmph."

Another couple of minutes passed, and then-

"Hey, No-"

"What?" he interrupted.

"Why don't you like Ki'lua?"

"I don't."

"I know. Why don't-"

"I mean," he said, propping himself up on his elbows, "I don't _not_ like him."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Good."

"Why is that good?"

"'Cause I like him."

"Haha, you don't say..."

There was a silence. Norm laid back down. Amanda rolled over.

Minutes passed-

"Hey, kid?"

"Mm...?"

"Just... be careful, okay? You just met him."

"Mm hm..."

He furrowed his brows, propping himself up again and looking in her direction through the pitch black. "Promise...?"

"..."

He found her face through the dark, moonlight from a crack in the curtain falling across her face. She was fast asleep.

He smiled, shaking his head and rubbing his brow, then laid back down and closed his eyes.


	15. Chapter 14: Wounds Old and New

Author's Note: This is a pretty long chapter compared to some of my other ones. I think it may be the longest chapter so far.

I have quite a lot to say here, actually: first of all, thank you guys SO much for all the reviews and encouragement! It means a lot! In fact, once I saw how many reviews I'd gotten , I was finally inspired to finish writing this chapter. Also, thanks for all the corrections in my grammar and spelling. I appreciate knowing, and I'll eventually go back and fix all the mistakes you guys have pointed out.

I also have been hearing alot about "tropes." I'll be completely honest: I really don't know too much about them. But most of you only had good things to say concerning them, so thanks to all you guys!

I probably meant to say alot more, but I've completely forgotten...

Okay, so Norm isn't in this chapter, sadly. You'll find out where he is soon, though. No more spoilers up here. I'll talk more at the end of the chapter!

Pt. 14 - Wounds Old and New

Recap:

There was a silence. Norm lay back down. Amanda rolled over.

Minutes passed-

"Hey, kid?"

"Mm...?"

"Just... be careful, okay? You just met him."

"Mm hm..."

He furrowed his brows, propping himself up again and looking in her direction through the pitch black. "Promise...?"

"..."

He found her face through the dark, moonlight from a crack in the curtain falling across her face. She was fast asleep.

He smiled, shaking his head and rubbing his brow, then lay back down and closed his eyes...

...............

She woke up to the sound of pounding music.

Jumping out of her sheets and finding Norm's bed empty, she rushed outside into the cool night air in her nightgown. She could see a commotion down on the beach; a flickering light and the sound of music broke through the thick foliage that surrounded the house.

Silently, she made her way across the sand and shrub grass, wondering vaguely if the thick vines had always blocked the view of the beach before pushing them aside and being confronted with the blast of music and firelight. Shadows of people danced across the sand, morphing into deformed creatures on the tiny dunes. The moon and stars shone brightly overhead, and the smell of salty high tide, humid air, and roasting marshmallows and hot dogs hung heavy around her.

She made her way forward, looking through the crowd for familiar faces and seeing only strangers. Couples all around the roaring bonfire were locking lips shamelessly, exploring each others bodies on towels, blankets, and sand.

"- 'Scuse me!" Amanda said, shrinking away as a pretty blonde smelling of pungent smoke and hormones danced into her roughly.

"Whatever, galpal," the blonde replied, flicking a peace sign in her direction and paying little attention to her.

In the middle of all the action, the heavy, pounding music and the heat of the fire, all the smoke of cigarettes and bong pipes and sticks of incense and tiki torches, all the people moving to their own unorganized rhythms- everything became swirls of color and jumbled noise, fazing in and out like sound from a broken speaker. Overwhelmed, Amanda stumbled back out of the commotion, shaking her head to regain her senses.

For a moment, as she moved down the beach and to the edge of the black water, Amanda wandered if she should call Norm- then she thought better of it, knowing that he probably wouldn't come anyway and that even if he did might be upset with her.

She watched the molasses-like waves, wading in up to her ankles. The water was cold, and her feet sunk into the sand. She walked along away from the insane party, moving her feet slowly, trying not to disturb the peaceful water too much. Minutes later, as the music became a faded lull and the light from the bonfire no longer lit the sand around her, she stumbled suddenly, crying out as her foot scraped across something sharp. A painful sting of salt on open wound alerted her that she was bleeding. She grit her teeth, pulling her hurt foot out of the water, bent down on her one leg, and picked up her small attacker. On the ball of her wounded left foot she limped out of the water's range and twisted around to fall backwards onto the sand, clutching the small object tightly.

Afraid to look at her foot, she first examined the small object in her hand. It was a beautifully curvaceous, twisted shell, as long as her middle finger and of a kind that she hadn't ever seen before. Peering inside, she found it abandoned and hollow. Running her finger along the open edge, Amanda found that, sure enough, the shell contained a broken, sharp edge. Then, pocketing the tiny treasure, she bent her leg so that she could see the bottom of her foot. She wasn't surprised to find, on the tender center area, a small gash dripped warm blood into the sand.

"Ow," she whimpered, noticing how it only hurt worse after she'd seen it. "Wonderful," she added in a grumble, crossing her legs to keep her wound away from the sand. For several minutes, she just sat there, wondering what to do, then she fell onto her back and looked up at the stars.

Out here, she noticed, the night sky seemed to go on forever. Back in the city, you would be lucky to catch a glimpse of any star on a good night through the light pollution. Suddenly, one bright light shot across the sky, and Amanda held her breath. A shooting star...!

Three years ago she may have wished on it, she thought vaguely, breathing again. Unwillingly, Amanda's mind faded upon an image- the image of a pair of gorgeous light blue eyes with long, red lashes. As much as she'd tried to suppress this image and the pain that came with it, she found she could not- partially because Amber, her best friend for 6 years, had the habit of bringing harsh memories to surface without realizing it.

The eyes belonged to a boy named Kenneth Halden, a classmate and friend of three and a half years.

She closed her eyes, letting the sea breeze wash over her, dulling the pain in her foot and releasing her into a memory she'd longed to forget...

_"It was math class, June 6th, three days after her 14th birthday. Amber waved goodbye from outside the room as the bell rang and she rushed off, late to her own class, and Amanda giggled, rushing to her own seat for attendance check. She had only one friend in this class, a punk girl whom everyone called Canada because she had moved to Texas from Ontario only a few years earlier. They were really only in-the-classroom friends; they got along well and Canada would stick up for her whenever one of their female classmates would tease her, but there was never any swapping of phone numbers or anything. _

_She took her seat in the front row with Canada, who really would have preferred to sit in the back if the "Three Bitches," as she called the class bullies, hadn't already claimed it. _

_"'Sup?" Canada asked. "Did you do the practice sheet? It's due today right?"_

_"Yeah," Amanda said, rifling through a disorganized stack of papers before uncomfortably handing it to the waiting girl to allow her to copy it. She didn't like having her work copied because it felt like cheating, but she would never say no if someone asked._

_"Hey," said someone behind her. _

_She ignored it. They probably weren't talking to her._

_"Hey!" they repeated, and she felt a tap on the shoulder. _

_She turned in surprise to find a big, curly-red-haired boy with blue eyes asking her where the teacher was. _

_"Idunno," she said quickly, turning back around. _

_Melissa looked up from her copying to say, "I think we have a sub today."_

_"Ah. Well," he said, plopping down heavily in the empty seat behind Amanda, "great. I'm supposed to be in this class, now." He waved a pink note in the air nonchalantly._

_Amanda glanced back at the backpack he'd thrown on the ground next to his desk and red the blocky, sharpied-on words: Kenneth Halden..."_

That was when she'd first laid eyes on him. He wasn't particularly attractive- as both Amber and Canada would point out- but there was something in his eyes, in the confident way he carried himself that had attracted her to him. He was pretty smart- at least he was in conspiracy theories and video games and such, and he was protective of her as their friendship grew over the next few months in that class. He never did his work, but, as he explained and she believed, it was because he just didn't _want _to do it, not because he couldn't. Over the two-week long autumn break, when school was finally let out for the year, she missed him like mad, and it was then she realized that she liked him- actually like-liked him.

It wasn't until a full year later that she had finally told him how she felt, and it took another year for him to finally tell her that he liked her back...

She jumped, snapping out of her reverie and sitting up as two people plopped down on either side of her.

"Hey there," said one voice loudly.

She looked back and forth between the two men in surprise. They were both much older men, probably in their fifties though they were in good shape. They smelled of some kind of beer, though being no expert on the subject of alcohol, Amanda couldn't identify it. Both men were ruddy-faced and dark-skinned with tiny dark spots from the sun, with stubbly faces and sweaty, greasy hair that immediately made her think of her think _"beach bum." _

"Uh- h-hi."

One man's leg bumped her own, but he didn't pull away. She crossed her arms, trying to make some room between herself and them, but couldn't. They were so close she hardly had room to move.

"Nice night," the other man said, his voice gruffer than the other man's. Both men had country accents, she noticed.

"Sure is," replied the other man.

"What're you doin' way out here, honey? Ain't inta the party scene?"

"I was- just- "

"Hey, why'd y'all run off for?" came a woman's voice.

The men and Amanda turned round to see a thin, older woman running toward them swayingly.

Amanda noticed that she was so thin that her tiny bikini threatened to fall off but she had a "beer-gut." She looked the mens' age, and had the same hair that looked as though it had never been washed in anything but the sea.

She moved around the sitting three and bent over with her hands on her knees facing them.

"Aw, woman, you been swimmin' again?" said the gruffer man.

"Haaaay there!" The woman ignored the man's question, directing her attention to Amanda. "Whozis?"

Amanda told them her name.

"Amanda? Well I'm Peggy. Wanna swim??"

Amanda shook her head. "No thanks," she said, very uncomfortable.

"Go on, woman," the man said again, and the woman ran for the water.

"Isn't it dangerous to swim at night?" Amanda said as the woman waded out into the water.

The men chuckled.

"We lived here a looong time, Amanda."

"Know this water back'n front."

"Oh," she replied, lost for words.

"You got an old man?" asked one man suddenly.

Old man? Like, dad? "Uh- yeah."

"Wull shucks! All the good'uns'r taken, huh, Redd?"

"Got that right," he said, carefully watching the woman splash around in the water.

Oh, he meant boyfriend. Or husband?

"Wonder why I picked you, lady?"

She didn't answer. How awkward.

"You 'uz in the right place 't the right time. How old're you anyway, Amanda?"

"Seventeen."

The men jumped, looking at her in disbelief.

"Seventeen? Don't mind us honey," said the gruff man embarrassedly, giving her some space while the other man did the same. "But there's cops out here."

"Sheeooot! Seventeen! What're you doin' sitt'n out here alone, girl? Someone could get'cha confused 'n try ta make a move on ya!"

_Like you guys?_she thought. She blushed, smiling embarrassedly. "I cut my foot on a shell," she replied, indicating her foot where the blood had dried in a trickle.

"Wull shoot, darlin', you need help gett'n somewhere...?"

.....

Author's note: What do y'all think of the two new men? Friends or foes? I'll tell you now, they're very minor characters, but they're also pretty important in the long run. I hate to introduce too many new characters in a fanfic, but... well, you'll see and I hope you'll like where this goes. ;]


	16. Chapter 15: Redd Kross

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. Not going to write an explanation, really, just say that life sunk in. Here it is. I'm determined to finish this story, no matter how long it takes.

Pt. 15 - Redd Kross

RECAP:

_"You 'uz in the right place 't the right time. How old're you anyway, Amanda?"_

_"Seventeen." _

_The men jumped, looking at her in disbelief. _

_"Seventeen? Don't mind us honey," said the gruff man embarrassedly, giving her some space while the other man did the same. "But there's cops out here."_

_"Sheeooot! Seventeen! What're you doin' sitt'n out here alone, girl? Someone could get'cha confused 'n try ta make a move on ya!"_

_Like you guys? she thought. She blushed, smiling embarrassedly. How old did they think she was? "I cut my foot on a shell," she replied, indicating her foot where the blood had dried in a trickle._

_"Wull shoot, darlin', you need help gett'n somewhere...?"_

Norm looked out into the dark, molasses-like water stoicly. He'd tried joining in on the crazy party, but, unlike himself, he'd found that for once he didn't want to be the center of attention. In fact, he'd found that all he wanted to do was sit and _think._

So he'd found a secluded spot on a cliff overlooking the water on the other side of the island and summoned a comfy lounge chair out of thin air by using the excuse _"my master would want me to be comfortable"_ to get his magic to work for him. It was so much easier to bend the rules since having Amanda for a master. It was true, he _could_ only use his magic when doing something for his master, but he'd learned long ago that as long as he could twist around his masters' desires just enough for them to still seem legitimately _their_ desires, he could make things happen for himself as well. Of course, having a master as kind and selfless as Amanda made any _twisting_ unnecessary; she _would_, in fact, want him to be comfortable. As he thought of Amanda, he felt a twinge in his chest that he realized he'd been feeling more and more frequently lately. He was using her, and eventually he might end up hurting her. In fact, as sensitive as she was, hurting her was almost inevitable. But, he reminded himself, after all he'd gone through, he _deserved_ to be free. She would understand... right?

He shifted uncomfortably, watching the glowing stars in the black sky. He almost smiled as a star shot through glittering abyss overhead, catching him off-guard. _Make a wish, Norm, _he thought bitterly with a half-grimace.

Then, he closed his eyes tightly, wishing only for rest...

"William Terrel Redd, lady. Just call me 'Redd.' Name stuck back in Vietnam," said the less gruff man with a chivelrous smile, extending a hand down to her and throwing his other hand over his shoulder like Vietnam was right behind him.

Amanda was still lost for words. She took his hand shyly and he pulled her onto her good foot. She stumbled a bit only to be caught by the taller, gruffer man by the arm.

"Charlie Kross, at yer service, ma'am," he said, then added, "Just Kross," with a kind nod.

"Redd Kross," grinned Redd. "Y'get it?"

Amanda nodded. "Are they your real last names?" she asked curiously. Kind of a big coincidence.

"Yeah!" he said eagerly, glad to have an interested listener. He dug into a pocket of his knee-length jeans cut-offs and pulled out a worn but very real driver's license. "Show 'er, Kross!"

"Hey, woman," Kross shouted out into the water, digging into his pocket also, "we're leavin'! Get outta the water 'till we get back!"

"I ain't neither!" shouted back the woman stubbornly, kicking water in their direction with both feet.

"As a mule..." Kross grumbled, producing a less worn license. "Drown 'erself 'n nobody'd know it..." He adjusted himself, hooking his arm around Amanda's to keep her steady.

The two men held their licenses next to each other. There were the two names, next to the two unmistakable pictures of the two men. Amanda smiled, eyes glittering. "That's way cool!"

The men chuckled, tucking away the cards once more.

"So," said Redd, shifting his arm, pleased with Amanda's reaction, "which way we headed?"

As Norm lied there in the ocean breeze, his consciousness ebbed, and in his weary mind's eye he drifted over the edge of the rocky cliff and plunged into the dark water below. He rolled with the waves against the rocks, wishing with all his might that he would wash away over a horizon he couldn't see through the endless blackness. He crawled up on the shore, exhausted, then stood and turned to look back out in the ocean. He wanted so desperately to reach the invisible horizon. He waded back into the water, and found that it was icy cold. He kept going-

_"Norm?" _

The voice was familiar, yet strange to him. He turned around. On the bank- a glowing figure- a face he recognized, but did not. He turned back to the water, wading in deeper though the cold filled his body.

_"Where are you going?"_

He answered, feeling heavy, not turning around. "I'm going to be free."

_"Why?" _the voice- the girl- asked.

He stopped, unable to put an answer into words. He was in to his waist, his desperation written on his face. He turned around over his shoulder.

She stood at the edge of the water, but could not enter it. From the trees behind her came a dark figure. As it approached and touched her, she fell to the ground, motionless.

"No!" Norm cried in unexplainable anguish, and fought to go to her rescue. But the water pulled him back, and became as molasses. He struggled to escape from the thick mass, but could not. It pulled him away from the shore. He watched helplessly as two more dark figures materialized and took hold of the white one, pulling her slowly off into the trees. He tried to call out her name, but was cut off as the water sucked him under, pulling all the breath from his body...

He gasped, snapping out of his nightmare and jolting up, eyes wide. "Ah...man..." he found himself repeating once again, hunching over and rubbing his temples. None of this made any _sense!_ Not just the dreams, but the fact that somehow, over the course of a few days, he- an immortal, 50,000-or-so year old genie- had succumbed to the whims of a mortal human girl. Most remarkably, he had come to _care_ about this girl...

"Thank you guys _so much,"_ Amanda said with an apologetic smile.

"Warn't no trouble e'tall, lady," replied Redd with a little salute.

"Now you list'n here," Kross said, leaning forward on the railing, "You stick with us, Amanda, and won't nobody mess witcha. You ever need anythin'- anythin' 'tall- you call for old 'Redd Kross' and we'll cumma runnin'."

"O- okay," Amanda said, taken aback at his seriousness. He pushed off the railing.

"Now let's get back a'for Pam swims 'erself straight to hell," Redd said. He fell up against the railing, taking Kross' former place, and added in a whisper, "and, uh, I'd mighty 'preshate it if you didn' mention to the cops you dun seen us, a'right?"

Lost for wards, Amanda just nodded as the men disappeared into the bush.


	17. Chapter 16: Attached

Author's Note: I don't even know how long this took. I had the most sever case of writer's block ever. Just want to finish it after reading it again today.

Pt. 16 - Attached

RECAP:

_"As Norm lied there in the ocean breeze, his consciousness ebbed, and in his weary mind's eye he drifted over the edge of the rocky cliff and plunged into the dark water below. He rolled with the waves against the rocks, wishing with all his might that he would wash away over a horizon he couldn't see through the endless blackness. He crawled up on the shore, exhausted, then stood and turned to look back out in the ocean. He wanted so desperately to reach the invisible horizon. He waded back into the water, and found that it was icy cold. He kept going-_

_"Norm?" _

_The voice was familiar, yet strange to him. He turned around. On the bank- a glowing figure- a face he recognized, but did not. He turned back to the water, wading in deeper though the cold filled his body. _

_"Where are you going?"_

_He answered, feeling heavy, not turning around. "I'm going to be free."_

_"Why?" the voice- the girl- asked._

_He stopped, unable to put an answer into words. He was in to his waist, his desperation written on his face. He turned around over his shoulder. _

_She stood at the edge of the water, but could not enter it. From the trees behind her came a dark figure. As it approached and touched her, she fell to the ground, motionless. _

_"No!" Norm cried in unexplainable anguish, and fought to go to her rescue. But the water pulled him back, and became as molasses. He struggled to escape from the thick mass, but could not. It pulled him away from the shore. He watched helplessly as two more dark figures materialized and took hold of the white one, pulling her slowly off into the trees. He tried to call out her name, but was cut off as the water sucked him under, pulling all the breath from his body... _

_He gasped, snapping out of his nightmare and jolting up, eyes wide. "Ah...man..." he found himself repeating once again, hunching over and rubbing his temples. None of this made any sense! Not just the dreams, but the fact that somehow, over the course of a few days, he- an immortal, 50,000-or-so year old genie- had succumbed to the whims of a mortal human girl. Most remarkably, he had come to care about this girl..."_

Norm floated up out of his seat, then realized that he was back to his genie mode, lower legs replaced by almost-solid whisps of smoke. He sighed, then raised his hand to snap himself back to his human disguise-

GONG! Two puffs of smoke, one purple and one pink, enveloped him, and he coughed at the sweet, overwhelming smell of flowers.

"Norm!" two sweet voices cried out, and he was knocked backwards with enough force to cause him to float a few feet back. The girls wrapped their arms around his neck from each side, clutching to each arm.

"Ladies!" Norm cried, confounded, as they pulled back. "What are you doing here?" Their date wasn't until the next night.

"Well, we heard you were at a party and we just couldn't stay away," replied the blonde one, holding his hand.

"Doesn't look like much of a party, though," the dark-skinned one observed, hand on hip, looking around at the stillness they had broken.

"Yeah... I wasn't really in the, uh... _party_ mood, y'know?"

They blinked in unison. "Not really."

"Well, I just needed some time to figure this whole, ah, _master_ situation out," he said, putting one hand behind his head and a fist on his hip.

"Oh, poor Norm... stuck with that little, pathetic human..." the dark one cooed.

Her words stung Norm in a way he couldn't understand, but he ignored the twinge of indignance in his chest.

"I've just been thinking," Norm said, pulling on his beard, "this kid... she's not so bad."

At the girls' shocked faces, he went on.

"I mean, she's not as bad as other masters, y'know? She's caring and- and she's sweet, and-"

He cut off, noticing the two girls exchanging looks.

"What?"

"You _care_ about this little human," the blonde said, eyes wide.

"She's not _just_ some little human, though! She's better than the rest! She actually _cares_ about what I-"

"So she's going to free you, then," the dark one said, both hands on her hips and a brow raised.

"Wha- I mean, well, I don't-"

"Face it Norm, you're losing it," the dark one accused. "We saw what happened at the beach today."

"What about it?" Norm asked defensively.

"You used your magic to help that girl without her making a wish. The surfing? There's no way she could have really pulled that off," the blonde said.

"So I helped the kid out a little. Big deal! She needs something to like about herself after what she's been through!"

"Are you _listening_ to yourself, Norm?" the dark one cried laughing disbelievingly. "'After what she's been through?' Really? What happened to you, Norm? What happened to Mr. Big Shot?" With each eccusation, she poked him in the chest. "What happened to the guy that could get anything he wanted? Because I don't see that guy anywhere around here."

"I'm still the same guy!" Norm cried out angrily, and the girls jumped back.

There was a silence.

"Look..." he rubbed his eyes with one hand and gestured with the other. "The kid's got one wish left. I just need a little more time, and I'm out of here. Free as a bird." He looked them in the eyes, back and forth, with an intense stare.

The women looked at each other doubtfully, but nodded.

"Good," the dark one said quietly. "And Norm... this little _pet_ of yours... don't get too attached to it."

Amanda was right where he had left her when he got back to the house, tucked in under her blanket, moonlight shining on her peaceful face. He watched, leaning up against the door frame, as she let out a breath and turned over.

He frowned and lowered his head with a sigh.

Tomorrow. He would do it tomorrow.


End file.
